Welt sewing machine



March 20, 1934 R. OUVER WELT SEWING MACHINE Filed Dec. 22. 1931 3Sheets-Sheet l fbg, 1.

ATTORNEYS WELT SEWING MACHINE Filed Dec. 22. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2Fr/gig,

ATTORNEYS March 20, 1934. JR OUVER 1,951,370

WELT SEWING MACHINE Filed Dec. 22. 1.931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.'

Jfew R0?? codranzwu BY WM'KuMdJ-l v ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 20, 1934NTED STES rar er1-ICE VVEL'El SEWNG MACHINE a corpcration of ApplicationDecember 22,

(Cl. 11E-46) 1 Claim.

This invention relates to welt sewing machines, for example to the Reecetype of welt-and-turn machine as illustrated in the prior patent ofOliver No. 1,770,992 granted July 22, 1939, and

5 in the earlier patents and applications therein referred to. Theinvention however is applicable to welt sewing machines of other types.

The invention pertains more particularly to the operation or" severing,or of severing and holding,

110 the welt after the completion of a given seam,

such for example as the stitching of the welt to a shoe. After themachine is stopped, preferably by an automatic stop mechanism, it isnecessary, in order to release the shoe or work, to sever the welt stripbetween the last point of attachment to the shoe and the sewing point,at which point the welt is fed to the work through a welt guide whichreceives the welt from a relatively remote supply point.

Welt severing devices of several distinctive types are known, the usualoperation of all of them being that, following the completion of thestitching, the work and the welt are advanced in the direction of feed,leitward in the standard machines, and the welt thereupon severed at apoint about midway between the last point of attachment of the welt tothe work and the stitching point or plane, the severing device beingnormally retracted to a rearward position, but at the time of severingmoving frontwardly to sever the welt at the designated point, leaving ashort free end of welt both at the shoe and at the stitching point.

The actuation of a welt severing device after the pulling through of thewelt as described, may be brought about in diierent ways, but in saidprior Patent 1,779,992 it is brought about by the manual movement of atrip or release means or lever, which releases actuating devices thatoper ate to move irontwardly the severing instrument and cause it tosever the welt at the designated place. A drawback, with any sort ofsevering action, is the possibility of the action occurring before thework and welt haveV been advanced through a minimum distance, forexample one inch, such as to insure that the severing instrument willnot contact or injure the shoe or operate on the welt too near the shoe.

The general object of the present invention is to afford a simple,convenient and effective means for severing the welt at a designatedpoint after the completion of the stitching. A particular object is toobvate the drawback before mentioned by preventing the actual severing,at the predetermined severing point, prematurely or before 1931, SerialNo. 582,541

the shoe and welt have been advanced, after the completion of stitching,by a certain minimum distance sunicient to insure that the welt will besevered at a point suitably spaced both from the work and from thestitching point. Other advantages will be pointed out in the hereinafterfollowing description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention orwill be understood to those conversant with the subject. To theattainment of the recited objects and advantages the present inventionconsists in the novel Welt handling mechanism, and the novel features ofcombination, arrangement, operation and structure herein illustrated ordescribed.

Figure l is a right elevation of the head of a welt sewing machineembodying this invention, partly broken away. I Y

Fig. 2 is a left elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a iront View thereof looking in the inclined direction of thearrow 3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the welt guide with its shank in section.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the inverted shoe, which is notshown, will be under stood as being held in place to the front of andbelow the welt guide, and with the welt strip W, the shoe upper, and thesole lip advancing leftward in the path of the curved barbed needle C.The welt strip, before meeting the shoe, is guided by the welt guide 20to be described along a path 85 extending from the welt supply throughthe welt guide to the stitching point or plane, whereat the needle,looper and other cooperating stitchingv instruments form the thread intosuccessive stitches connecting the shoe upper, sole lip and welt,usually around the sides and toe of the shoe, terminating at the shank.

The drawings show an upright fore-and-aft frame wall 11 which may be theleft hand frame wall of the head of the machine, and spaced t0 95 theright of this is a second fore-and-ait frame wallor bracket l2. Thestitching instruments are accommodated principally between the two framewalls, while the control mechanism hereof is mounted partly on eachwall, with a connection or link from one side to the other. The main oroperating shaft 13 may have its bearings in the two frame walls and thismay have crank or other connections to the stitching instruments foroperating them in coordination on the principles of said patent and theprior patents therein mentioned, such connections being omitted herefromas unnecessary to the disclosure of the present invention.

The mountings and connections of some of the is an irregular shapedcasting comprising or stitching instruments may be redesigned toaccommodate the new welt severing construction hereof. Thus the channelguide B is shown carried yon an arched carrier lever b oscillating on axed axle 15. For the purpose of mounting certain parts at the inner sideof the left frame wall there is shown a fixed irregular bracket orcasting 17. The needle C may oscillate about an axle 18 in the usualmanner; and this axle may have its right end supported by an additionalbracket 19 reaching down and leftward from the right frame wall 12. Thework may be held in the usual manner against the welt guide and againstthe usual work rest, and may be advanced between stitches by the usualfeed mecha- -nism as the welt W is laid against the shoe and stitchedthereto.

As in said prior patent, this specic method of severing the welt hereinshown involves the quick throwing frontward and retraction of a severingtool or blade preferably comprising a shearing cutter cooperating with ashearing edge or surfacerof the welt guide 20. This welt guide isnormally located at the right side or welt supply side of the stitchingpoint or plane and accord- -ing to this invention it has the twofollowing characteristics. The welt guide has a shearing surface formedby a slot or otherwise located a substantial distance to the right orwelt supply side of the stitching point, for example 1/2 inch removedtherefrom. Before the actual severing the welt guide is caused to beshifted or advanced bodily in the direction of the feed, or to the left,the severing taking place while the welt guide is at the extreme left ofthe movement, and the guide thereupon retracting to normal position.This leftward shift of the welt guide may be to the extent of 1 inch, sothat its shearing surface, which normally is l/i inch to the right ofthe sewing point will now be 1A; inch to the left thereof. When in thisposition the cooperating cutter blade advances frontwardly to effect thecutting at 1/2 inch to the left of the stitching point. During theshifting movement of the welt guide preparatory to the cutting the workis positively thrust leftward with the result that the severance of thewelt is unavoidably 1/2 inch or more removed from the end of the seam.In the usual welt stitching machine the shoe is held bythe operator andherein the shoe is used as a contact to operate a trip for the releaseof the mechanism causing the cutting operation. Due to the relativedimensions and movements of the parts the work and welt are compelled toadvance in the direction of feed before the actual severance so that thework will be protected from the severing cutter and the actual cuttingis performed about midway between the work and the stitching plane.

vThe welt guide 20 considered as a whole is a member swingable frontwardto the work and rearward from the work, with a groove or guiding surfacealong which the welt is guided to the work. The body or frame of thewelt guide 20 supported upon a pair of swinging arms 22 mounted upon atransverse axle 23 which extends between a part of the casting 17 andthe right frame Wall 12.

With this invention, as in Patent 1,770,992 the welt guide has a guidingportion 24 formed separately from the body or frame of the welt guide.The movable portion 24 contains a welt guiding groove, and may beconsidered as the welt guide 1:1 proper, since the welt is laid directlyon the Work from the left side or exit of the groove. Also as in saidpatent the movable portion 24 of the welt guide, while normally in theoperativey position shown, is capable, for the purposes of the weltsevering operation, of being shifted leftward or advancingly in thedirection of feed, so that a face of the movable portion may, in itsadvanced or shifted position, cooperate with a blade or severing deviceto effect the severing of the welt at a designated point substantiallybeyond or leftward of the needle C and stitching plane indicated in Fig.3 at With the present invention, however, the shiftable portion 24 ofthe Welt guide is so constructed that the severing takes place at apoint thereon which during severing is about a half inch to the left ofthe stitching plane but which point is normally removed to asubs'tantial distance, as a half inch, to the right of the stitchingplane, the guide shifting through about one inch from position toposition. A convenient construction is the formation in the part 24 of akerf or slot 25, as seen in Figs. 1 and 3, located the designateddistance to the right of the stitching plane, and adapted to receive theblade or knife 30 to be described. With this plan, by shifting the weltguide portion 24 one inch to the left, after the stitching, and while inthat position effecting the severing of the welt, the welt willnecessarily be severed a half inch to the left or beyond the stitchingplane, and at least a half inch to the right of the point where the laststitch connects the Welt to the shoe; and the presence of a half inch ofmetal to the left of the kerf or severing point positively insures theleftward advance of the work or shoey to the requisite extent, the part24 contacting and thrusting the shoe leftward While held in theoperators hand or otherwise.

At the left side of the movable part 24 is shown an attached extension26 with a finger extending into the welt guiding groove so as to form agib by which the width of the guiding groove may be adjusted to suit thewidth of the welt strip The movable welt guide portion 24 may have acurved shank 27 with a circular pivoting head 28, these permitting theswinging welt guide movements already referred to, as in said patent;and the movable part 24 may be provided with an alining pin 29 slidablein the welt guide body 20, to permit the leftward and return movementsof the part 24 while keeping it in proper guiding relation to theremainder of the welt guide.

The severing knife 30 consists of a flat blade movable in the kerf 25.This knife may be generally as in said patent. The blade is attached toa curved shank 31 by which the knife, during the severing, is thrustfrontward in a curved path and retracted. For this purpose the curvedshank 31 is formed with rack teeth 32 at its back edge, and these teethare in mesh with a gear 33 mounted on a shaft 42 to be described, Athegear being elongated to permit right and left shifting movements of theknife shank.

Preferably the severing blade, instead of being normally located totherear of the severing point, is normally located to the rear of the kerf25 'and arranged to shift leftward with the shift of the welt guide part24, so that the actual severing takes place beyond or to the left of thestitching plane. For the purpose of effecting the leftward and returnshifting movements of the curved shank 31 of the blade and the similarshank 27 of the part 24, these two parts are accommodated in the arcshaped recess of a guide member or block 35, which is generally .similarto the correpoint a half inch plane and at least that distance to theright of the rear arm 95 and a pin spondingly numbered p art in saidpatent, June 28, 1933 and Patent 1,716,562 of June ll, 1929 in Fig. 5shows the character and mode of action of the recessed block 35. Theshifting guide or block 35 is shown mounted at the right end of asliding bar 37 which extends leftward and has its sliding bearing in thecasting 17 and in the frame wall 11. The left and right slidingmovements are preferably effected by connections at the left or outsideof the left frame wall, whereat the bar is shown provided with lateralpins 38 engaging in the lower yoked end of a'lever 39 as seen in Fig. 2;corresponding with the similar lever in said patent. As the actuatingmechanism is shown substantially identical with said patent it will onlybe generally referred to herein, as the patent may be referred to forfurther details.

The lever 39 by which the bar 37 and block 35 are shifted left and rightis shown fulcrumed at 40 at its top end, and actuated by a link 41 eX-tending from rack bar to be described, so that When the rack bar ismoved downwardly and upwardly, the sliding .bar 37 will be shifted left-Wardly and rightwardly.

The pinion or gear 33 which actuates the cutter shank is mounted on ashaft 42 which extends leftward through the casting 17 and left frameWall 11, the shaft emerging outside the frame wall and there carrying apinion 43, as shown in Fig. 2. This pinion is rotated in reversedirections by the rack or teeth 44 formed on the rack bar 45, mounted onthe left frame wall in a manner to slide downwardly and upwardly,thereby effecting the forward and return movements of the severingblade. The sliding rack bar 45 is mounted in a lower guide 46 and aboveis guided by a roll 47, the bar having an extension 48 by which itsactuation is effected.

As in said patent the actuation of the described connections isperformed by a toggle device comprising a lower toggle link 50 and anupper link 5l, the mutual pivot being connected to an operating rod 58which extends forwardly along the frame wall to where at its front end61 it is tapered for resetting purposes and notched for latchingpurposes. A strong spring 63 is arranged to throw the rod rearwardlywhen tripped, this straightening the toggles and actuating the describedsevering and shifting mechanism. The notched front end 61 of the toggleoperating rod 58 is normally, during stitching, engaged by a latch orfinger engaging in the notch in the rod. The particular mountings of thelatch or finger 70 may be as in said patent, and arranged with anoutstanding trip lever 79 which is pressed downwardly by a coil spring80 but which may be thrown upwardly for the purpose of withdrawing thelatch finger and thus tripping the severing mechanism. The trip lever 79is arranged in convenient access, so that after the completion of a seamthe operator may elevate the work or shoe and with it strike up thelever thus tripping the toggle mechanism and causing the severing of thewelt as described at a to the left of the stitching the last stitchconnecting the welt to the work. After actuation the latch may be resetby power as in said patent.

As in said patent the machine may contain a safety device preventing theaccidental tripping of the severing mechanism during the stitching of aseam. In Fig. 1 is shown a lever 93, 95 fulcrumed at 94, with a spring96 pulling down 97 which, upon the stopping of the stitching, thrusts upon the arm against the resistance of the spring. This for example may beeffected by the lettingup of the pedal by which the stitching iscontrolled. From the arm 93 extend connections, unnecessary here todescribe, by which is prevented the tripping of the severing mechanismby the trip lever 79 except after the machine has been stopped and thelever arm 93 thereby thrown downwardly to effect release and permittripping of the severing mechanism.

It will be understood from the above that each severing actuation ofthis invention involves the quick spring-effected leftward shift of thewelt guide part 24, and simultaneously therewith the frontward stroke ofthe severing blade, to thrust the work leftward and to cut the welt atthe desired point,y as a half inch to the left of the stitching plane,following which the parts are immediately restored as the toggle 50, 51is moved beyond its straight line position, the blade thereby retractingdiagonally rightward and rearward and the welt guide part 24 retractingrightward to its normal relation to the welt guide body. During thisretracting or restoring movement there might be a tendency of the part24 to drag back with it the welt, which has been properly advanced to aconvenient position for starting the next seam. .To prevent suchaccidental retraction of the welt strip any convenient locking orholding means for the welt may be provided, such for example as a pawl109 disposed in such manner as to bear upon the welt and prevent itsrightward retraction during the retraction of the part 24 and, ifdesired, until the starting of the next seam. The pawl is preferablymounted on the body of the welt guide 20 and bears down upon the upperside of the welt strip passing into the part 24. Such pawl or holdingdevice may be substantially the same as the correspondingly numberedpart in said patent, and the pawl may be controlled as in said patent ormay be subject to spring pressure causing it to bear upon the welt; thepawl 100 being representative of any convenient means of preventing theaccidental reverse slippage of the welt strip after the severancethereof.

The present improvement may be summed up by reference to its essentialparts and their actions as follows. The welt guide, referring to thepart 24, t's positioned normally at the feed side of the stitchingplan-e or point x, that is, at the side from which the welt is supplied,for guiding the welt to the work, but is shiftable advancingly beyondthe stitching plane, that is in the direction of feed, toI cooperate inthe severing of the welt. In some cases the welt guide body might shiftalong with the part 24, but preferably does not shift, and is used tosupport the pawl or holder preventing reverse slip cf the welt. Thesevering device or blade is actuable to sever the Welt at a severngplane y substantially beyond the stitching plane, as marked on Fig. 3.This might cut independently of the welt guide but preferably cooperateswith the latter in a shearing action, and further preferably comesfrontward as it advances, thus taking a diagonal motion and retainingits relation to the welt guide. Actuating mechanism operates theseelements after the stitching is completed; the welt is advancinglyshifted to an extent to bring its advanced side or edge substantiallybeyond the severing plane y to a plane or point 2, compelling the workand welt tobe correspondingly advanced, and the severing device beingsimultaneously operated to ron without departing from the principles itis notA intended to limit the invention to such mattersy except to theextent set forth in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

Ina welt sewing'machine a welt guide normally atl the right or feed sideof the stitching plane for guiding the Welt to the Work, but shiftableadvancingly or leftWard beyond the stitching plane to cooperate in thesevering of the welt,

said welt guide having a severing kerf normally substantially to theright of the stitching plane, a severing blade fitted to operate inshearing I'elation Within the severing kerf, and actuating mechanismoperable after the completion of stitching for shifting the welt guidefrom its nor-v mal position substantially to the right of the stitchingplane-in a leftward direction to cross the stitching plane and furtherleftward to-anextent to bri-ng its kerf substantially to the left of thestitching plane, compelling the Work and welt to be correspondinglyshifted leftward, and for operating the severing blade thereupon tosever the Welt at the severing plane between and substantially removedfrom both the work and the stitching plane; whereby there will remain asubstantial Welt end on the work, and,v after retraction of the weltguide tornormal position, a substantial Welt end projecting from thewelt guide.

JOHN ROGER OLIVER.

